Monday, July 5, 2010

From Cincinnati to Chicago

My friend Mark Behler's son Jason and Jason's friend Brennan set out last week on a bike ride from Crestview Hills, Kentucky to Chicago. Mark and another friend Ryan drove the support car.

The 355 mile trip took 5 days. Their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was the Reds-Cubs game at Wrigley Field on Friday July 2. Marty Brennaman gave them a shout-out along the way, and they got to explore some small Midwestern towns.

His travelogue includes restaurant reviews which made me want to visit some of the breweries! The guys grew moustaches, or in Mark's case a goatee, as banners of pride, and it sounds like they bonded.

Here are some excerpts from their blog, entitled 2010 Indiana Moustache Ride.

Day 1 highlights: Taking my first ride on the Anderson Ferry. It is the oldest ferry in operation. It has been in operation since 1877. I prefer bridges when available.Watching the corn grow as we travelled the back roads of Indiana. Yes, I know I am easily amused.Ryan and I took a 50 mile detour to see the world's largest ball of twine. Clark Griswold would have been proud.Driving through Milan. In honor of Dennis Hopper we went to Milan High School and ran "the picket fence". If you don't understand go home tonightand watch "Hoosiers". One of the best sports movies ever made.

Day 2:We arrived in Acton, IN a little after 11:00. We had our choice of Old McDonald's Café, Old McDonald's Café or Old McDonald's Café.We chose, you guessed it, Old McDonald's Café. When we walked in we were greeted with a sign on the wall that read "Welcome to OMC. Many Have Eaten Here, Only a Few Have Died".The bikers underestimated how difficult day 2 would be. They encountered a head wind most of they way. I think they were also feeling the effects of the 90 miles the previous day. They're starting to get a little whiney.

Day 3:As we drove toward Lafayette, our stopping point for the day, I was channeling my inner Mellancamp (not out loud ofcourse.). We are driving across the heartland of America and I can't get his songs out of my head.Watching the corn grow by leaps and bounds. It's going to be a good crop this year.Today's ride was by far the easiest. The total mileage today was about 57 miles. Total miles 219.

Day 4 crowned a new member of the Century Club.

Jason and Brennan rode 102.5 miles today.

Brennan has ridden over 100 miles a fewtimes so he was already a Centurion. The boys knew this would be a tough day (about 90 miles they thought). They had to change theirroutes a few times due to gravel and construction. Their total mileage is about 319.When we went on vacation when I was a kid, my dad hated to drive, never exceeding 55 MPH. You can imagine howlong it took to drive to Ft. Myers, FL. Dad chain-smoked Lucky Strikes from the time we got in the car until he went to bed. I prefer Strawberry Twizzlers.Rensselaer is a nice town. They have a town square with a courthouse that has a clocktower. It could have been the setting for Back to the Future. If they replaced all of the cars with 1950's models you couldn't tell the difference.

I have never been to Wrigley Field. It's been on my bucket list. Janie (mark's wife) called a contact she has with the Reds, and we have Reds hats and shirts with the "Beat The Cubs" logo underneath. Jason e-mailed Marty Brennaman and he gave us a shout out on the radio today.

Day 5Starting Point: Merrillville, INEnd Point: Wrigleyville, IL!

Today's plan is short and simple. Of the 40 miles the guys have to ride to get to Wrigley, most are on bike paths. So that's good.I'm telling you all of this now because it's highly unlikely I'll be in any condition to update a blog after the game. But don't fret. I'll be sure to update with final pics from the trip early next week!

You can check out Mark's entire blog and more fun pictures of their trek by logging onto 2010Indianamoustacheride.blogspot.com